What Is Tendinopathy?

13 Apr What Is Tendinopathy?

While most people have heard of tendonitis at some point in their lives, tendinopathy is a condition that doesn’t get quite as much notoriety. However, this is rather ironic, as experts believe that the latter is more common in patients than the former. At East End Occupational Therapy, our team can administer the tendinopathy treatment you need to make a potential full recovery. For more information about this condition, and how our team will be able to provide treatment, please contact us today. 

What Is Tendinopathy?  

Your tendons are rope-like tissues that connect your muscles to your bones. Tendinopathy is a condition that takes place when the tendons, specifically the collagen inside them, begin to break down and dissipate. When this occurs, patients are subject to experience burning pain, limited range of motion, and reduced flexibility. Although any tendon can be affected by tendinopathy, the most common ones that are impacted by this condition include the following:

• Achilles tendon.
• Rotator cuff tendons.
• Hamstring tendons.
• Patellar tendons.      

Tendinopathy Vs Tendonitis

Tendinopathy and tendonitis are used interchangeably by some people. However, these conditions need to be viewed as two separate entities. Tendonitis occurs when the tendon has become inflamed or irritated, while tendinopathy is a result of the degeneration of collagen that forms the tendon. At one point, many people believed that tendinopathy was an eventual result of tendonitis. However, thanks to further investigation, it has now been determined that tendonitis is an eventual result of tendinopathy. When you believe tendinopathy has become present in your life, our expert staff at East End Occupational Therapy will offer treatment to stop the condition from getting any worse. 

Symptoms To Monitor

As is the case with tendonitis, tendinopathy is caused by the overuse of a tendon. This overuse can be due to sudden stress being placed on the tendon, aging, and overall lack of muscle tone. Knowing when you are suffering from tendinopathy will allow you to seek out treatment swiftly, meaning you’ll spend less time battling pain and discomfort. When any of the below symptoms become present in your life, consider reaching out to our team for help:

• Increasing amounts of pain as you continue to use the affected tendon.
• Pain and stiffness is at its worst either right before bed or right when you wake up in the morning.   
• The site of the injured tendon is tender, red, warm, or swollen.
• You experience a “catching” sensation when using the tendon.

Treatment At East End Occupational Therapy

Depending on the location and severity of your injury, different forms of treatment will be recommended by our team to help you achieve a full recovery. For minor instances of tendinopathy, a regimen of rest, ice, compression, and elevation may be all that is needed to help patients get back to being pain-free. When a more involved approach for treatment needs to be taken, East End Occupational Therapy will have you covered. We have numerous services at our disposal that could be just what you need to restore your functionality levels to where they were before the development of tendinopathy. 

These services may include some of the following:

• Hand therapy.
• Manual therapy.
• Upper extremity therapy.
• Custom splinting.

The Outlook

Tendinopathy can be a painful condition that will quickly bring down your quality of life. However, when managed properly, many people make a full recovery from this condition while suffering from minimal long term complications in the process. Rest assured, our team will do everything in our power to help you achieve an optimal outcome when you find yourself trying to overcome this issue.

Contact Us 

Don’t sit around and let tendinopathy take control of your life. By visiting East End Occupational Therapy, a treatment plan can be put into action to help you find the relief you desperately need. Contact us today to schedule an appointment and take the steps needed to rid yourself of this condition once and for all.